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Vedanta Said to Seek Controlling Stake in Cairn India By Kar
By Kari Lundgren - Aug 16, 2010 8:28 AM GMT+0200
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Vedanta Agrees to Buy Controlling Stake in Cairn India Ltd.
Vedanta Resources Plc agreed to buy 51 percent to 60 percent of Cairn Energy Plc’s Indian oil unit. Source: Cairn Energy via Bloomberg
Vedanta Resources Plc, the mining company controlled by billionaire Anil Agarwal, agreed to buy as much as 60 percent of Cairn India Ltd. for as much as $9.6 billion to gain access to India’s biggest onshore oil field.
London-based Vedanta will pay a total of about $8.5 billion to $9.6 billion in cash, the company said in a statement today. Cairn Energy Plc, Cairn India’s parent, said it will return a portion of the cash raised to shareholders and invest the rest in exploration off Greenland and elsewhere in the world.
Vedanta follows BHP Billiton Ltd., the world’s largest mining company, in adding oil assets. The purchase will give the company access to the Mangala deposit, India’s biggest oilfield on land, marking a departure from mining zinc, copper and iron ore. Cairn India, 62 percent held by Edinburgh-based Cairn Energy Plc, is listed in Mumbai and valued at about $14.4 billion.
Vedanta will buy as much as 51 percent of Cairn India from London-listed Cairn Energy. It will start a tender offer to take its stake to as high as 60 percent.
The deal “significantly enhances Vedanta’s position as a natural resources champion in India,” Agarwal said in the statement.
Agarwal, 57, ranked 10th on the annual Sunday Times Rich List of the wealthiest people in the U.K., the London-based newspaper reported in April, with an estimated fortune of 4.1 billion pounds ($6.4 billion). He built his wealth around aluminum, zinc, copper and iron ore businesses after acquiring Shamsher Sterling Corp. in 1979.
Vedanta was the first Indian company to list its shares on the London Stock Exchange in 2003, according to its website, and employs 30,000 people with operations in India, Australia and Zambia. The company said in 2008 it would spend $20 billion in India over four years on mines and power plants.